Meeting Mum and Dad
by MaraudingMuggle
Summary: Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Ron, get sent back into the year 1977 a week after the war ends. Time Travel AU with the Marauders and Lily. R&R!
1. Into the Past

**A/N: Okay! So, the changes are starting now. I didn't change too too much on this first chapter, but you should still read through it. I will be posting the ext chapter in two weeks. Sorry again for going back and changing stuff, I just felt like it was a bit off kilter. Please R&amp;R guys!**

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It was only a week after the war. Harry was back at Hogwarts, where he had come every day since, cleaning up the wreckage from the battle. He was blaming himself again. It always seemed as though he put the weight of every loss on his shoulders.

Professor McGonagall had been asking for help from anyone willing to help restore the castle to it's former glory. The next semester wouldn't start for a couple months, but the damages were immense and not lacking in number. They had only achieved the feat of removing the rubble from the interior two days ago.

Harry was walking through the gates when he heard someone calling his name. It wasn't unusual as of late, but he still wasn't used to being called out all the time. He had been on the run, cut off from everyone, for so long, that he sometimes forgot that people could see him. He had thought about wearing the cloak around, but it seemed pointless. Why should he hide away when he had more important things to worry over?

He turned towards the noise and was surprised to see Ron, Hermione, and Ginny coming towards him. He hadn't seen them a lot since the second, they never came to help with the reconstruction. Ron and Ginny were grieving over Fred and trying to help George through it all, and Hermione was trying to find where in Australia to look for her parents. The two Weasleys looked drawn out, but they wore smiles on their freckled cheeks. Hermione had bags under her eyes, but seemed to have more energy than the other two. She ran up and hugged Harry, glad to see him.

"Guys? What are you all doing here?" Harry directed his questions towards Hermione, who seemed the most fit for answering.

"We came to help with the school, Harry. You know, the Chosen One isn't the only person who's allowed to help." Harry grimaced at the reference and nodded.

"How have you guys been? I'm sorry I haven't been over more, I just. . ." Harry trailed off, not able to think of a proper excuse for avoiding the people who had done so much for him. He looked down at the ground, distracting himself with observing the pebbles.

Ginny seemed to understand what he was saying, and was about to say something to Harry, but Ron cut off her chance. "Well, we should probably get to work then, yeah? I heard that there's a lot to do. Good thing, too. I've been going mad staying in the house all day. I doubt that that's what Fred would've wanted us to be doing."

Hermione took Ron's hand as Harry and Ginny nodded, leading the way towards the old castle. She stopped in her tracks when she saw it, though. The three who hadn't been there for the past week gasped at how broken it looked. They all turned to Harry as if wanting an explanation.

"I was astounded when I first saw it, too. I think that with the adrenaline from the fighting coursing through us, we didn't really stop to look around at all of the damage. We all kind of ran out of here as fast as we could after, you know? No one really could tell how bad it was until we came back to see."

They all continued to stare at the destruction, until Ginny took a step forward. She turned to look at the Golden Trio, "Let's move on, shall we?"

Harry smiled at Ginny's readiness to face what she knew would be hard and took a couple steps toward her, Ron and Hermione in their wake. Harry grabbed onto her hand, offering support, as they approached the building, and she smiled at the simple gesture. In the months that he had been gone, she missed the feeling of knowing that he was an arms length away, ready to catch her in case she fell. It was nice to have it back.

If Professor McGonagall was surprised to see Ron, Hermione, and Ginny with Harry, she didn't show it. Instead, she led them to a section of the castle that could start repairing. When she strode away, Harry could've sworn that he saw a shadow of a smile on her lined face, but ignored it and got to work.

Hermione was the kind of person who hated silence unless, of course, she was reading. As they worked on the reconstruction, using a set of spells that McGonagall gave them. So as they worked, Hermione told them about the building's history. Harry and Ron smirked at each other as she started rattling off facts from Hogwarts a History. Ginny had the decency to pretend that she cared without taking it too far, but Ron was mocking her.

"Did the founders really build the castle, 'Mione? How did you know that?" Ron hid his smile behind an expression of interest and Hermione responded enthusiastically.

"Well, Ronald, if you had actually read Hogwarts a History, you would've known that it said it in there," Hermione seemed proud of her witticism until she caught sight of Harry's silent snickers.

"And what exactly, may I ask, is so funny, Harry?" Hermione turned to him, eyes narrowed so much that it was hard to believe that she could see out of them.

Ginny smirked smugly at the boys being caught in the act and almost laughed as Harry immediately changed his expression. It went from laughter to fear to innocence.

"I haven't the foggiest what you're on about, Hermione."

"Oh I think you do, Potter," Hermione advanced on him, her wand raised.

Harry let out a fake gasp, "Are you accusing me of lying, Granger?" He held up his left fist, "If you remember, I must not tell lies," he winked.

Hermione let out a growl and decided to go after her boyfriend instead. "Ronald, why was Harry laughing?"

Ron's amusement disappeared as soon as Hermione decided to get answers from him instead. "Umm, we should probably get back to work."

Ron turned around and started to say one of the repair spells that Professor McGonagall had given them, but had buggered it up in his nervousness.

Instead of the bricks in the wall reinforcing themselves, a hole formed that sucked the four teenagers into it. Harry heard Hermione and Ginny yell out in shock as they were pulled through the darkness. It was almost as if they were falling, but it seemed like something was yanking them through. Harry flung his arms around, trying to catch onto something or even someone, and they found Ginny. He pulled her into him and held tightly onto her as they continued to shoot through the darkness. The feel of her heartbeat, fast because of their closeness or because of the dark, he didn't know, calmed him slightly as the sensation continued.

When it finally ended and they could see light again, they hit stone flooring, and landed in a heap. The first one up was Hermione. The other three heard her gasp as they struggled to get up. When they all managed to stand on their own two feet, they found themselves looking into the curious eyes of none other than Albus Dumbledore. Thoroughly shocked at the presence of their deceased Headmaster, Ron didn't even register asking, "Merlin's socks, are we dead?"

Hermione shoved Ron and glared at him before speaking, "No you prat! We're in Hogwarts! How could we be dead?"

"Well Dumbledore's here, I think it's a perfectly reasonable question! And for all you know, this could be what Heaven looks like! I was happy in this place, weren't you?"

As the couple continued to bicker, Harry and Ginny continued to stare at Dumbledore. Neither one of them spoke until Ginny finally leaned slightly over and whispered without taking her eyes off the old man, "Doesn't he look younger?"

At that, the Headmaster started to chuckle merrily, interrupting Ron and Hermione's argument and making Ginny and Harry only more confused. Finally the man spoke.

"So, may I ask who all of you are, and why you think you're dead?"

Harry realized that everyone was looking to him to answer and sighed, "Well for lack of a better way to say this, umm, because you are. . ."

"Well, that certainly makes things a bit more exciting, wouldn't you say? How about we head along to my office and you can explain yourselves a bit better?" Dumbledore spun around on his heel, his magenta robes streaming behind him.

The group followed him up the the staircases and into his office. He conjured up chairs for them to sit on and took his own seat behind his desk. The teenagers didn't say anything so he gestured for them to start explaining with his right hand, not at all blackened or dead.

This time, Ginny took control of the situation and spoke for them, "I'll start with May 2nd?" she asked her companions and continued to speak after receiving a nod of the head from each of them, "So on May 2nd, 1998; I'm saying the year because I'm assuming that it's not the same as it is now; the battle of Hogwarts took place."

Dumbledore listened to Ginny's speech, not interrupting once, except for nodding his head or humming in understanding. When Ginny reached the end of her explanation, Hermione turned to Ron and glared, "If you weren't so busy mocking me Ronald, we probably wouldn't be in this mess."

"Oh come now, Hermione! It was all in good fun!" Ron groaned.

The girl only pursed her lips and turned her attention back to the Headmaster, "Professor, if you wouldn't mind, what is the date?"

"September 9th, 1977, Miss?"

"Granger, sir."

"Actually, if you all wouldn't mind telling me all of your names? And maybe your ages and Houses? Oh, and parents, too. I'm a bit curious on that last one, you see," Dumbledore had a sheepish grin playing at his lips as addressed them.

"I'm Hermione Jean Granger, Gryffindor, and I am eighteen. My parents are Hugh and Anne Granger, muggles," Hermione looked to Ginny to go next.

"Ginevra Molly Weasley, Gryffindor, sixteen, and my parents are Molly and Arthur Weasley."

"Ronald Bilius Weasley, Gryffindor, eighteen, and my parents are the same as Ginny's."

"Harry James Potter, Gryffindor, seventeen, and my parents are James Potter and Lily Evans." Upon hearing the names of Harry's parents, the natural twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes increased to where they were almost glowing.

"Yeah, I know it sounds funny now, but everyone swears they were made for each other where we come from," Harry continued

"So are all of you in your seventh year of education? Or are you in your sixth or finished?"

"Well Harry, Ron and I skipped our seventh year to, uh, do something, er, important. And Ginny is meant to be starting hers."

"So all of you are comfortable taking seventh year courses? Until we understand how you got here and how to get you back, it's better if we keep you at the school until we can find a way to return you to your time."

"That's fine, I guess. But, um, what are you going to tell everyone, though?" Harry scratched at the hair on the back of his neck as he looked at Dumbledore. He felt uncomfortable with the idea that he would be in school with his parents.

"On Monday morning I'll mention at breakfast that we will be hosting four foreign exchange students. We will just play off the story that you are all from France and have decided to spend the year away from home. If anyone gets curious, simply tell them that you were all students at Beauxbatons. This way, we won't have forge any relationships between you all. We'll claim that we had you sorted in my office move you all into the Gryffindor dormitories tonight and if you could all write down the classes you would be interested in taking, I can have you enrolled by the morning. The password to the Gryffindor common room is asphodel. Oh and for Mr. Potter at least, probably all of you just to be safe, you should change your name and alter your appearance."

Before exiting into the hallway, Dumbledore altered the appearances of the four children. Harry's hair went from a raven black to a sandy brown color and grew it out to be a bit longer. With his hair longer, it was more shaggy than messy and it didn't look too similar to the original. He left the shape of his eyes alone, but changed the coloring to a duller green. His face was now spotted by freckles, and the frames of his glasses now square.

Hermione replaced her bushy hair with a sleek light brown and colored her eyes ice blue. She didn't have to change to much due to her muggle born status, but Ron and Ginny had both lost their many freckles, leaving them with pale white skin and now black hair.

All in all, the kid all looked completely different, and their new names suited them nicely. Hermione switched out her name for Hermione Brown, and since it was dark times, she decided to sell herself off as a half-blood. It was better that they didn't draw more attention to themselves by letting it drop that Hermione was muggleborn.

They all agreed that keeping their first names would be harmless and everyone changed their last name. Harry became Harry Synk. Ginny and Ron were now Ginny and Ron Lewis.

It was dark when they left Dumbledore's office, and the group of four trudged their way to Gryffindor tower. Dumbledore had told them that there was already a spare bed in both the Gryffindor boy's and girl's dorms because the Heads had their own dorms. He had told them, though, that there would be two more beds made up for the four before they went to bed.

Having been Hogwarts students for six years prior to this, all four of them knew where to go and how to get there easily. They parted ways in the common room, saying goodnight as they headed up the steps.

Harry and Ron weren't expecting the Marauders to be up when they entered the room. Harry now felt quite rude for just entering the dorm without any qualms. The boys were all looking at the door, surprised to see two boys that they never had before.

"Uh. . . hi?" Remus, looking healthier and happier than Harry had seen him, was sitting on his bed, looking at Harry and Ron, confused. "Can we help you?"

Harry's hand jumped up to his neck and he smiled awkwardly. "Sorry, uh, we didn't realize you all were awake. . ."

"Now, I might be scared to hear this reply, but what exactly were you planning on doing if we weren't awake?" Sirius had a single eyebrow raised.

Ron choked on his breath and turned a deep shade of red, "Nothing!"

Harry cheeks were also tinted pink as Sirius, Peter, and Remus all laughed.

"Er, well we were told that we would be staying here?" Harry looked over at Ron, unsure of how to handle the situation. The dorm looked exactly the same as when he and Ron had shared it with Neville, Dean, and Seamus. The biggest difference that Harry could see was that it was cleaner than he had kept his room, and there was a sixth bed. "I'm Harry and this is Ron."

Sirius laughed and turned to Peter, "And you thought the extra beds were here for lack of storage."

"Well it's not like your idea was any better! As if Dumbledore would really add extra beds for shagging!"

Harry and Ron both snickered when they heard Sirius' idea. Who knew that Sirius could be such an idiot?

Ron and Harry went to bed before Sirius, Remus, and Peter did. They felt awkward around the other boys and felt it best to just get some sleep. That being the case, Harry didn't think to put up silencing charms around his bed.

Ron woke up to Harry's screams and went to sit on the end of his bed like he always did when his friend was thrashing around. He knew from experience that Harry wouldn't wake up if you tried to rouse him, and that you would only accomplish hurting yourself in the process. All you could do was wait it out and make sure that he didn't hurt himself. Ron opened Harry's bed hangings and sat by his feet. He was wound pretty tightly in his sheets so he probably wouldn't hit anything, but Ron stayed to make sure.

Harry had a long history of night terrors. Ron was used to calming him down whenever they surfaced so he didn't see anything unusual in the occurrence. Since he had just woken up, he barely registered that they were in the Gryffindor dormitories. Their roommates had long since learned about the dreams and knew to cast a silencing charm around their own beds in order to drift back off. On occasion, Neville would stay up with Ron, but apparently not tonight.

Somewhere in his thought process, Ron heard someone mutter, "Fucking hell, what is that?" Only then did he realize that it wasn't sixth year, they no longer attended Hogwarts, and the voice that questioned the noise wasn't Seamus, Dean, or Neville. He looked at the other beds to realize that the three boys that they were now rooming with had woken up due to the noise and were now watching Harry with concern and confusion in their eyes.

"What's wrong with him?" Remus looked at Ron, obviously awaiting an answer to his reasonable question.

"Ummm," Ron looked at the boys and blanked on what to say. With the roommates from his time, they had known what Harry went through and they didn't ask questions, but this was the 1970s and Harry hadn't encountered Voldemort yet. "Well, see, umm, Harry gets nightmares sometimes."

Remus looked at Ron like he was dumb and spoke dryly, "I couldn't tell."

Ron chuckled awkwardly next to Harry's continuously thrashing, screaming form. Ron could hear a couple muttered names and pityingly looked down at his friend. He gulped when he turned back to the now suspicious looking Marauders, but was saved from having to talk more when the door to their room opened.

Ginny and Hermione both slipped in through the door and immediately, Hermione turned to Ron. Ginny stopped to place a silencing charm in the room so that Harry's yells wouldn't be heard throughout the castle.

"Ronald! Can't you get him to quiet down! We can hear him all the way over in the girl's dorms!"

Ron donned a look of indignation and stood from the bed, "You say that like I haven't tried! You know what he's like when he's having a nightmare! Nothing can calm him down until he wakes up!"

"Well can't you try anything?"

"I have tried things! How about you take a go at it!"

"I will!" Hermione pushed past Ron and started to reach a hand towards Harry.

"NO!" Hermione halted her motions and turned to look wide-eyed at Ron. "Don't touch him! It makes it worse!"

"How do you know?" Hermione crossed her arms.

"Because I've done this hundreds of times, 'Mione, and I know from experience," Ron spoke slowly, as if talking to a young child.

"I don't believe you," Hermione pursed her lips and raised a challenging eyebrow at Ron.

"Fine then. Go ahead and try it, but don't blame me when things don't go your way." Ginny and the Marauders continued to watch Ron and Hermione's spat in silence, waiting for the next move.

Hermione harumphed and leaned down to touch Harry's shoulder. The second her skin touched his body, his screams became more panicked and he shot forward in the bed. The names that were only muttered before were now being yelled, like Harry was pleading. Hermione jolted back in surprise and turned to Ron with wide eyes. Instead of the smug expression she expected, he looked disappointed. He had hoped that this time it would work, but like always, it didn't.

Ginny had started to move forward, now, deciding it was her turn. Ron noticed and immediately tried to pull her back.

"Get off of me, Ron!"

"No, Ginevra! You'll get hurt if you move any closer. He's worse now, and if he senses someone by him, he'll think that they're trying to hurt him."

"I don't care! We need to wake him before he hurts himself!"

"Ginny!" Ron still hadn't taken his hands off of Ginny, and she was getting angrier by the second.

"Ronald Bilius, I swear on Merlin's mother that if you do not take your hands off me this second, I will curse you so bad that our parents will feel it. You understand?" Ron grudgingly removed his hands and Ginny continued on her path to Harry.

"NO! STOP! LET HER GO! LET HER GO! GINNY! GINNY!" Ginny moved closer with each one of Harry's yells. When she got to the side of the bed, she started to speak softly.

"Harry? Harry, it's okay, love. I'm okay. Nothing bad is going to happen. We've been through enough already, yeah? Remember my first year? We got through that. And when we went to the Ministry, we made it out. It's okay, Harry, it'll be okay." With each word, Harry seemed to calm down more, his shouts were now low, regretful moans. Ron looked astounded at what she accomplished. After years of Harry's nightmares, he hadn't once been able to calm him down. Ginny continued to talk to him, even as her name stopped being spoken, and was now replaced by others. She spoke in a whisper so that the only the people from her time would hear her, "Teddy will be alright, Harry. He's got you to help him. You'll do such a good job, too, Harry. Tonks will be proud. I know she will. And Remus, too. He picked a good man for godfather." Small tears were now falling down her cheeks as she remembered those who died. "And don't you worry about Fred." She sniffled.

Ron grabbed on to Hermione's hand at the utterance of his brother's name, and she squeezed his in response. They listened to Ginny, as she continued to calm Harry down. His breaths were starting to even out and he didn't jolt again when Ginny started to stroke his hair.

"He's going to be alright, Harry. George is, too. You know what George told me? He told me that he and Fred were now the Holy Spirit. I asked him why, and do you know what he said?" Her voice was loud enough for everyone to hear again. She couldn't keep her voice as low now that her tears were heavier, "He said they were the Holy Spirit because he was still holey, and that Fred was dead now, but he was still here in spirit. See Harry, we'll all be okay. We'll be okay," she lowered her voice again and whispered 'I love you' to his sleeping form.

Ginny leaned down and placed a soft kiss on Harry's forehead and stood back up. She walked over to Ron and looked him in the eye as she spoke to him. They both had tear tracks on their faces, but Ginny ignored them and held her head high, "You're not the only one who talks him down, Ron. I've done it plenty of times, too." With that, she left the room, everyone else left in a stunned silence.

After what felt like hours, Peter broke the silence, "So, uh, anyone care to explain what that was?"

Ron and Hermione snapped out of their reverie and Hermione wiped her eyes as she turned to the boys, "It's not our story to tell." She sniffled and looked away from the Marauders to Ron. She kissed him on the cheek, then pulled him into a hug, she whispered something in his ear, which consequently made him tighten their embrace. When they broke apart, Hermione bid everyone goodnight and went to make sure Ginny was okay. As soon as she left, Ron crawled into his own bed and went to sleep for the rest of the night. The Marauders stood confused and silently agreed to figure out what was going on.

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**So, what do you think? -Jules**


	2. Getting Adjusted

**A/N: Okay, I would just like to apologize. It's been way too long since I've updated and I'm sorry. I have been busy and sick and tired and I just want to sleep. But hey, there's a new chapter! Not every two weeks, but it's something and I'm trying. I hope you all like it :) Please review so I know!**

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Harry was sitting in the shade of the beech tree when he heard someone approaching. By the heaviness of the steps, he could tell that it was a boy.

"Ron, I know that Hermione is putting you up to talking to me. I'm fine, alright?"

"Not Ron, mate." Harry cricked his neck as he whipped his head around in shock of hearing Sirius' voice instead of his best friend's.

It had been two weeks since the time travelers had arrived in 1977. They were fitting in well enough with their roommates, but it was still weird for them to be around them outside of classes or nighttime. The Marauders still had not brought up Harry's nightmare, and it made him feel awkwardly tense around the other boys.

"Uh, hi, Sirius," Harry tried to make himself sound nonchalant, but he was too pink in the face to pull it off properly.

"'Lo Harry."

Harry rubbed the scar on his forearm-covered by his school robes-and tried to relax. "What's up?"

Sirius smiled in that contagious way that Harry so desperately missed from his own time, "Just seeing what you're up to is all. Surprisingly, people generally don't sit alone under beech trees unless they've some brooding to do."

"I'm not brooding!" Harry didn't think before he replied, and Sirius' amused smirk from before now changed to a full blown smile and he let out a barking laugh. Harry was painfully reminded of spending time with his godfather in Grimmauld Place. He missed the easy teasing and it caused stings of pain in his chest.

"Whatever you say, but I know a brooder when I see one," Sirius winked before dropping down next to Harry.

Harry huffed and went back to staring at the lake. He had a perfect view of the water from where he was and he suddenly realized that he was sitting under the tree that his father was on the day of his defense against the dark arts OWL. He turned away from the lake and refocused on the changing leaves.

"You don't seem to smile much," Sirius made the comment quietly, watching Harry as his face turned more grim. He had been right, though. Harry hadn't had much to smile over since coming to the past, and being surrounded by people who had died for him was much more taxing than one would suspect.

Harry looked to his left side where Sirius still sat and fixed him with a dry expression, "Well, I mean, there isn't a war going on or anything."

Sirius laughed again as he studied Harry, but his amusement quickly died out and a distant expression covered his face as he replied, "Yeah, I suppose there is."

O~o~0~o~O

Sirius couldn't help but continue to think back to sitting by the lake with Harry. The war always seemed so far away when he was in Hogwarts, it made it easy to forget sometimes. Yeah, there was tension in the school and petty attacks, but the brunt of the war was outside the castle walls and he didn't think on it much. It was so easy to be distracted by the tasty food and the pranks and laughing with friends.

Harry had unknowingly forced Sirius Black to take a look at the world around them, and he was growing distasteful of his behavior regarding the matter of the war. He knew that things were bad, but he was just now starting to pay attention to the details. Some would say things were rough, but in his opinion, things were going bloody awful out there. You-Know-Who was dominating in the wizarding society, and it wouldn't be long before things got so bad that they couldn't be reversed.

His thoughts were making him restless so he went off in search of something to distract himself with. He decided easily on Lily Evans when he found her studying in the common room and settled himself to work.

"Lilykins! My dear, it's been too long," Sirius approached her table with his arms spread wide. She glanced up from her roll of parchment and sighed before looking back to her work.

"Shove off, Black. I'm working on something," Sirius pulled out the second chair from the table and leaned it back on two legs.

"Aw, you can't possibly mean that you want me to go away, Red."

Lily rolled her eyes and tucked away her parchment. Sirius was watching her with a crease between his eyebrows, "Done, are you?"

"What's wrong, Sirius?" Lily had her hands folded neatly on the table and she was leaning towards Sirius, watching him closely.

"Nothing," Sirius replied too quick and he knew it.

"Mmm, I don't think so. I know you don't like me much, but you still came here to talk to me. What's wrong?"

Sirius looked at Lily's bright green eyes and quickly learned that that had been a mistake. You could see everything that she was thinking and feeling almost as if they had been made to tell any looker her exact emotion.

Sirius sighed before he indulged Lily. "There's a war on, Lily."

Lily blinked three times before she showed any substantial reaction. She rose from her chair and sat on the one next to Sirius. "Everyday in the halls I can hear people whispering about me as I walk past them. They bring up my bloodline. They question about my authority as Head Girl. It's not easy, Sirius. I have to worry about stepping out too far and getting hurt while also worrying about my family back at home. I'm not there to protect them, and I don't want them targeted. It's hard on me, so I can hardly imagine how awful it must be for you.

"It must be impossible to know that you are fighting on a different side of the war than the rest of your family. Impossible to know that you are going to have to face them in battle. To not have them to lean back on. I know that you have the Marauders, and as brotherly as your love is for them, it's still hard to turn back on your family. I'm so sorry, Sirius. I really, truly am."

Sirius nodded and watched the younger years running around on the grounds through the window. He needed time to think and sort himself out. He wouldn't have the time though, he had the full moon tonight and he would not miss it. He had to be there for them-for Remus and James and Peter-just how they were always there for him.

This was the first full moon of the school year -September twenty-seventh, and the boys were all on edge. This would be their first full moon without the map. The first week of school it had been confiscated by Filch and now they had to make it to the Willow without the added protection.

It was worrying of course, but with Sirius on edge already, it made him regard the whole situation in an even more intense uneasiness. He concentrated on taking even breaths and continued to stare out of the window with Lily by his side, finishing her essay with her left hand and holding his with her right.

O~o~0~o~O

To say that James Potter was incredibly shocked that Sirius and Lily were sitting next to each other in one of the many alcoves of Gryffindor Tower was an understatement. They weren't even poking fun at each other. In fact, in almost seemed as if they were in relative peace sitting by each other. _And_ they were holding hands.

James walked up to the small table they were at and when his shadow his Lily's long scroll of parchment, she looked up.

"Potter."

"'Lo Evans," James sent a grin in her direction before looking at Sirius. He hadn't even reacted to James' presence, and he continued to stare out of the window. "What did you do to him, Evans? Use your saucy charms to send him into a stupor?"

"Surprisingly no. That was option two," she winked. "I don't really know what's wrong with him to be honest, but I would say that you should probably fix him up quick. This calm version of your lover frightens me greatly."

James laughed at her teasing, she was always a cheeky girl, and he helped her collect her stuff. "Don't you worry love, I'll have him back to normal by tomorrow."

"Normal? I would dare say that that is inconceivable where Black is concerned."

"Very true, Lily dear, very true," James watched her walk away before turning back to his best mate. "Sirius?"

Sirius jolted in his seat and only James' fast reflexes stopped him from knocking over the table. "Oh. James."

"Are you okay?" James scanned Sirius over for any injuries, letting his concern show.

"Yeah. Yeah, I am. Sorry, I'm just a bit tired is all."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Let's go. Remus needs us."

"Yeah," James continued to watch Sirius as they made their way over to Peter. He was leaned next to the portrait hole, invisibility cloak hidden in his magically extended pocket. The three of them left together and only slipped under the cloak when they reached the castle grounds. The three of them had gotten bigger over the years and it was a bit of a challenge to try and fit the three of them under the cloak so they only went under when they were shielded by the darkened sky.

They tread the familiar path to the Whomping Willow and made their way into the passageway that lay beneath the tree. Peter was the first one down as always-who else was small enough to inconspicuously press the knot? Sirius followed and James took the rear.

Normally the walk/crawl to the shack seemed to last forever, but tonight it seemed a bit faster as they pressed on through the uneven tunnel. Peter pushed open the trap door and climbed through. Remus was waiting for the three of them in the shack's "kitchen." He was holding a cup of water and taking shaky sips as he started to feel the transformation coming on.

"Hey Remy," James crouched down in front of his friend and helped him steady the cup as he took another sip.

Remus coughed a little and glared at James, "I'm not an invalid, you know."

James laughed and ruffled Remus' hair. He glared even harder. "It's about to happen. You all should probably go change."

The boys nodded and headed up to the second floor of the house. Remus had always asked for privacy during his actual transformation and the other boys honored that wish. Only James had seen the transformation before, and that had been when he saved Snape in sixth year. It was something that he would prefer to never see again. It had hurt him to see Remus in such pain and he felt sick to his stomach whenever he thought about that.

Only about a minute after they had hit the second floor did they hear Remus' screams as the wolf in him took over. They transformed into their animagus' and waited for the howling to slow. It took about four minutes before they figured it was safe enough to go down a floor.

They found Moony in what would've been a bedroom if the house was in good care, scratching the wall and moaning quietly. Sirius bounded over to his canine brother and nudged the wolf's head with his own.

Soon, they pack of animals was making their way into the Forbidden Forest to let Moony stretch his legs. The wolf was howling in delight, rolling around in the dirt and wrestling with Padfoot and Prongs while Peter watched from safety.

O~o~0~o~O

Ginny had the window to the seventh year girl's dorm in the tower cracked and if she concentrated, she could hear Remus' howls coming from the grounds. She was seated on the window sill with Hermione, her head leaned against the glass of the window as Hermione used the moonlight to read her book.

"I hate that sound," Hermione made the comment without removing her eyes from the page she was reading, but even in the slim lighting, Ginny could see that her friend's eyes had stopped moving between lines.

"Me too. I've never heard anything like it. It hurts to think about it. It reminds me a lot of Bill. And our Remus."

Hermione nodded her head up and down, glancing over her shoulder to double check that their roommates were still asleep. "I heard it back in third year. I think that Harry told you the story back in sixth year. It was horrifying to watch him change. I don't think I'll ever forget it. He looked like he was in too much pain. It's all I can see hearing the sound. Knowing it's the same person doesn't make it any better."

Ginny nodded in answer to knowing the story and looked back out into the moonlight, "Want me to close the window?"

Hermione shrugged in response and Ginny reached her arm out of the space to pull the handle back. It sealed with an odd sounding squelch and she leaned back against it.

"What are you reading?" Ginny pushed the spine of the book up with her index finger to read the title off of the binding and almost laughed as she saw it. "What are you doing wasting your time on that rubbish?"

Hermione had most recently gone to the library that morning to pick up said "rubbish" and pulled the book closer to her chest. "It's not rubbish! I just…. I uh, well…. If you must know, I only picked it up because I was curious, okay?"

Ginny was giggling at her friend's flustered appearance and managed to get out, "But _Hermione_, it's _Divination_!"

Hermione's head raised in defiance and she spoke calmly, "Yes, Ginny. I do realize that it's divination, but I had a question and this was the only subject that I thought would apply. I got to thinking today about Harry's prophecy and I was curious to see if it would still apply even though we were sent to the past. I mean, what if we start to change things? Not on purpose, of course, but you know, something might happen."

Ginny's expression had gone back to serious as she listened to Hermione's reasoning. "Well, you know that I don't set much in store by divination, but that prophecy had proved itself true. I think it could go either way, you know? Maybe Trelawney won't even make the prophecy in this timeline. There's no way to tell."

"I suppose we'll just have to wait. Hopefully we will have found a way back by then."

"Hopefully," with that final word, Ginny slipped off of the window sill and padded her way over to her bed. She crawled beneath the blankets and closed her eyes, thinking about home with her family. She missed her parents and siblings. She missed Fred and she worried over George. Thinking on it now, her mom should be pregnant with the twins right now-only about a month in, but still carrying around the two of them.

It felt weird being in a place that was so different and familiar at the same time. At least she had Harry, Ron, and Hermione with her. It would be so much worse being alone. They understood what it felt like and she just wanted to see her family. It felt like the war had finally ended and now she was thrown right back into it. It wasn't fair. They had already lived through this. They didn't need this again. They deserved to finally have some peace.

That night, she fell asleep with tears in her eyes.

O~o~0~o~O

Ron had gone to bed later than the rest of the time-travelers that night. He had been sitting by the fire when the girls went up and still hadn't moved when Harry had patted his shoulder in goodnight an hour later. He hadn't meant to stay up late, but he had been thinking about Fred. They had gone back in time. Didn't that meant that they could fix things? Could they save his brother? Could they save Harry's parents?

Maybe they could start finding the horcruxes and they could destroy them all. Then, there wouldn't be a second war. If they could get rid of all of the horcruxes then Voldemort wouldn't be able to come back and people could be saved.

He had started to hope that they could change things and he wanted to, but he was worried that Hermione would shoot them down. He could talk to Harry first, and then Ginny. Maybe if the three of them tried together, they could convince Hermione. It was their best shot and he wanted to take it. So much could be fixed. Sirius would never have gone to Azkaban. Remus and Tonks wouldn't leave Teddy behind. Maybe they could even save his Uncles. His mum had told him that they died in 1981 and it was 1977 now.

His heart had started to race as he thought of all of the lives they could save. Dumbledore. Mad-Eye. Maybe Neville's parents wouldn't be tortured. Hell, they could even save Snape. He never liked the bugger, but he had been on their side in the end and that was the important part.

* * *

**Did you like it? I hope so :) -Jules**


	3. Secrets

When she danced, her ears would close away everything except the music. She would hear the beat and feel it _pound pound pound_ in her ears. The delicately strung notes would scream at her and she would absorb them-live them-feeling the pain of the melody, gracing it with faultless spins. When she danced, her ears would close away everything except the music.

Her muggle cassette player doesn't work in the castle so she links her radio to the WWN and breathes. The best songs are played by Reggie on Wednesday nights at eight. He plays the deep music. The kind with a down beat so low that you swear it plummets _through_ the earth. She stretches out to the frilly songs that Judy plays at seven and then she's ready. She works her world into the dance. The ups and downs of everyday life and the hard memories of the past.

She first started dancing when her Mum enrolled her in Ms. Bettie's Academy of Dance. It was an expensive little place about twenty minutes from her house and the girls in her class were snotty, but she loved it. The pale pink tights that she slipped into when she performed clashed horribly with her whole complexion, and the shoes pinched her toes, but the dancing was so freeing. She didn't belong anywhere, and dancing made her feel like she fit with something at least.

She ditched her tights when she got her Hogwarts letter, but she still danced at least once a week. Her dorm mates saw her twirling about her room pulling her backpack together in the morning, but they didn't know that she spent her Wednesdays in an empty classroom dancing her worries away. It was silly if she thought about it, but the subject had never really come up and she was alright with no one knowing. It was more fun to slip out of the common room unnoticed and sneak back in right before curfew hit.

She had just gotten a new pair of slippers before the school year started and she was on her way to her classroom with an excited twinkle in her eye. She had her dancing clothes on under her robes and she could hardly restrain herself from leaping there. She had missed dancing last Wednesday for head duties, and she _missed _the feeling of the music when she made it live. She needed it.

She closed the door silently behind her when she made it to her desired destination and she quickly set up her wireless and stripped off her robes. After she had grown out of her pale pinks, she had gotten a black leotard. She warmed up with Judy on the radio and waited for Reggie to turn on the good stuff before she started to dance for real. Her hair started in a bun, but halfway through, she tore the elastic from her hair in a preference to allowing her tendrils of red to dance along with her.

She finished at ten, and it was a true mark of her concentration that she never heard nor saw Sirius Black when he came into the room and sat down to watch. She heaved out weighted breaths and set him with a glare from hell.

"What are you doing, Black? I swear to Agrippa and back that if you say anything to anyone-and I really do mean anyone-"

"Chill, Red. With that hair of yours, I don't want you catching fire. I'm not going to tell anyone. I'm not that much of a prick, you know," Sirius pushed himself from his spot on the ground and let out a long suffering sigh.

Lily narrowed her eyes at him and studied his face before nodding and slipping her robes back on over her leotard. "Well what are you doing down here anyways?"

Sirius didn't miss a beat, "I was looking for pretty muggleborns in empty classrooms. What else do I ever do?"

Lily sent him another glare before she zeroed in on the navy blue journal in his hand. Noticing her eyes were no longer on his face, he followed her gaze to his book and quickly shoved it in the pocket of his robes. "Come on. I'll walk you back, Evans."

"Not so fast, Black. What's that little book you're so keen on safeguarding?" Lily nodded her head to the pocket he had stowed the book in as she pulled her hair into a ponytail.

"It's nothing really. Just found it on the ground. Was flipping through it."

Lily quirks an eyebrow at his lame excuse but doesn't say anything more. After all, it must be personal if he doesn't want to share, and he _definitely_ didn't intrude on her personal space tonight by watching her dance. So, she just nods her head and starts out of the room, knowing he'll follow. It takes under a minute for them to start walking in pace together and Lily takes advantage of the peaceful silence that surrounds them.

"_Accio_!" The little navy blue book is in her hands before he can even blink and when he realizes what happened, the only bit of her he can see it the flash of red as she rounds the corner. Sirius sprints after her and curses the lost map as he runs in the direction he hopes she went. Sure enough, there she is, using the moving staircases to her advantage and running up one as he starts sprinting for it. She's laughing and for a fleeting second, he thinks she has opened the book, but a second look tells him that it's still securely tucked under her arm. He hops onto the staircase in the last second and revels in the shocked features adorning her face. The staircase isn't moving, and she is trapped.

"Should've known that you can't beat a Marauder, Evans," she sticks her tongue out at his teasing as he walks up the steps and whips out the book, opening it to the first page. He rushes up the length of the stairs-_damn these steps for being so goddamn long_-and by the time he snatches the book out of her hands, her mocking expression had developed into one of confusion.

"Now, it's my turn to threaten your mouth closed, dear," Lily is sitting atop the marble steps and Sirius drops roughly down next to her and sinks a hand into his hair. The action reminds her of James and it snaps her back into reality.

"You write poetry." Lily doesn't ask, she states. It's true-she's read a poem. Sirius grunts in reply and she feels a wave of guilt hit her in the stomach, "I'm sorry."

"It's fine. Just don't go blabbering on about it now, you hear?"

"Yeah, I do," she hesitates for a second. "You're really good."

At that, he actually laughs out loud. "If you want to get in my pants, Evans, I should tell you that flattery is not the way."

She rebukes him with a slap to the back of his head and he let's out an overly exaggerated _OW!_ that makes her smirk. "I won't tell anyone about your book. Please don't tell them about the dancing," she sounds so fragile as she says it that he looks down at her before responding.

"I won't. You've got nothing to be ashamed of, though."

She pushed herself off of the stairs and walked off without looking back, "Neither do you."

* * *

That night after she had slipped into her comfy flannel pajamas and switched out her ballet slippers for squishy ones, she went down to the common room. It seemed like the common room was only ever busy at night when the seventh years and fifth years had their tests coming up. She liked to come down and sit by the fire before heading off to bed and even more so she enjoyed that no one would bother her when she did so. Until now, of course.

He fell into the seat next to her like he came out of nowhere. "Won't your boyfriend be mad at me for spending so much time with you?" Lily quirked her eyebrow at Sirius, holding back a smile at his absolute adolescence.

"Remus doesn't mind our friendship," the way he so calmly responded made her wonder it maybe he actually did have a relationship with their bookish friend, but she ignored the thought and continued on with her original mindset.

"I was talking about Potter you nutter," she sighed as she readjusted herself on the couch so her feet rested on the opposite end of the couch. Her legs fell across Sirius' lap and he glared at her to which she responded with a sugar-coated smile.

"What has you all in a tither about Jamie-Boy's feelings, now? Has he finally caught you?" Sirius waggled his eyebrows at her causing her to laugh obnoxiously and several glares from the few others in the common room.

"No, you big dolt," she stayed silent for a while before she made a decision on bringing up his poems. "So is there any way that I can sneak a peek at your blue book again?"

"Shush it, will ya? I don't want that getting spread around and you promised to keep your big trap shut."

Lily glared at the mild insult and sat up, pulling her legs from his lap, "I just want to read them!"

"You can't."

"And why not?"

"I don't want you to. And I'm not getting anything in return so it's not worth it."

"I'm not going to snog you if that's what you're after."

"I'm not asking for a snog, you loony bird."

"Fine."

"Fine."

They fell into an awkward silence before Lily broke it again, "Are all of your writings like that one?"

"What?"

"Your poems. Are all of them about that."

Sirius looked angry now, but she could sense the confusion underneath it. "You don't know what you're on about."

"I do."

"What?"

"I do. Know what you're on about I mean. I get how it feels. To not belong," she looked over at him now, only to see that he was already staring.

"Oh, and how would you know? Literally everyone in this castle likes you."

There was a beat of silence before, "Blood purists don't. And my sister doesn't either."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh."

Silence comes yet again but this time it's not as awkward, but more understanding. Sirius picks at his cuticles and Lily chooses to just make eye contact with the fire that is so reminiscent of her hair. They don't talk again until goodnights are bid and they trudge off to their dorms.

* * *

No one really understands how Sirius and Lily seemed to have become friends overnight, but they don't ask. James is upset until she sits with his group of friends for breakfast. Remus smirks at Sirius throughout breakfast and Peter just eats as if nothing changed. He always knew that she'd be sitting with them someday after all.

Harry is just glad that James' good mood seems to last all day as it will make quidditch tryouts a hell of a lot less intimidating. He hasn't told Hermione that he's planning on going yet, and he's starting to fear doing so. He knows that Ginny is going and he is silently wishing that maybe they can just sneak down to tryouts without Hermione noticing. It's not likely.

They're all sitting in the library when 3:30 rolls around. The tryouts are at four and if you're late, then you can't tryout. It seemed as though James was pretty serious when it came to his sport. Harry keeps on meeting Ginny's eye in what he hopes appears to be a casual way because he doesn't want Hermione catching on and he doesn't want Ron getting the wrong idea.

It takes two minutes before, "Will you just say whatever it is that you're up to already? My Merlin! This is getting past aggravating!"

Harry swallowed the lump in his throat that automatically accompanied Hermione's anger and sent a panicked look to Ginny who scowled before turning to the only other girl at the table. "We were just about to leave for quidditch tryouts."

The casual manner in which Ginny dared to approach the subject shocked Harry, but Hermione's response to it did not. "Ginny! You can't possibly be serious right now! You can't tryout for the Quidditch team! You could affect the course of time!"

"Oh please, Hermione. Because we definitely aren't screwing with the 'course of time' by just being here already! They need players and I'm damn good, and I miss quidditch! If I want to tryout for the sodding team, I will!"

Hermione let out a frustrated growl and turned to Harry and Ron for help, "Please tell her that's she's acting like a numbskull!"

Ginny shot up in her seat, pushed over the edge by Hermione's condescending attitude. Hermione's eyes blazed and she turned to the boys, "_Well_?"

Harry looked sheepish, "I agree with Ginny. I mean, it'd be cool to play alongside my dad. I haven't really talked to him much since we got here, and well yeah, I haven't played quidditch since last year."

"You two have got to be joking! You do realize that this is probably the most stupid idea I have ever heard the two of you come up with!"

Harry was about to say something to calm Hermione down, but Ginny cut him off, "Stupid? Oh please Hermione, do not tell me that you really just said that. You need to hop off the high horse that you've been on since we've gotten here. No matter what we do, time is screwed. Stop acting like a know-it-all when you're just as ignorant of what's going on as the rest of us. This is my life! I am going to play quidditch if I damn well please and you will not be stopping me. Come on, Harry. We have tryouts to get to."

Harry vacated the seat that he had held across from Hermione and frowned at Hermione as he and Ginny left the library. The two of them had to book it to get down to the pitch, but they made it on time and that was the most important part. Once they arrived on the field, Harry put his hand on Ginny's shoulder to ask if she was alright, but she shrugged it off.

"You're not exactly on my list of favorite people either Harry. Don't touch me until you know what the hell it is that you're looking for. I'm not here for you to lead me on."

Harry stared dumbtruck at Ginny as she strode away towards the group that had gather to tryout for the chaser position. He moved over the seeker hopefuls and tried not to stare at her as he thought over what she said. His thoughts were cut short, however, when James took center pitch and cast a sonorous charm on his voice.

"Alright Gryffindors! If you were late, just leave now. I know who you are and trust me, if you try to tryout it won't have a pretty ending. And if you're not in Gryffindor, you can go on and take your leave too. I think it's pretty simple. Haven't flown before? Off the pitch. Questions?" No one raised their hands so James continued.

"The whole team is trying out. No exceptions. I don't play favorites and I don't care if it's your seventh year. It's my seventh year too and I want to win. That means we are trying for a keeper, a seeker, two beaters, and two chasers. Let's get started, yeah? Do 10 laps around the pitch on your brooms." He stuck a whistle into his mouth and blew it to signal people to kick-off.

Harry pushed against the ground hard and shot into the air. He was using one of the school brooms which was actually in good condition and was a newer model at this point in the timeline. He watched Ginny out of the corner of his eye as she kicked off from the other side of the pitch. Her start off was as strong as his, if not stronger, as she was used to old model brooms. He flew his 10 laps around the pitch, weaving in and out of the other hopefuls, Ginny riding his tail. They completed the final lap together and dismounted at center pitch, only then noticing that they were the first ones done.

It took about two minutes for everyone else to finish and once everyone was firmly on the ground again, James eliminated half of the hopefuls. Harry and Ginny still remained and he smiled at her from his spot amongst the crowd.

"Well, that was a bit discouraging to be truthful. I was hopeful for a team of top flyers, but you can't always get what you want, right? We'll work in separate groups now. Divide yourselves up and let me see how many I have left in each category so I can eliminate the smallest groups first. Chasers with me, seekers by the Hufflepuff stands, keepers by Ravenclaw, beaters by Gryffindor."

Harry walked off towards the Hufflepuff stands, only one other person with him. He took notice of all of the other groups and was surprised that no one was left for keeper and there were only three for beater. There was a group of eight surrounding James, and Harry sighed at what he knew was coming next.

"Well, seeing as there is enough for each position, but not enough volunteers, I would like to try you for all positions. If you're not alright with that, you can leave my pitch. Seeker first. We'll release three faux snitches into the air and the three who spot them will move along in seeker tryouts. Mount and kick-off, people. I don't want to be out here in the dark."

As soon as James blew his whistle, Harry was in the air. He flew above the rest of the group and traced a figure eight in the sky above him while he kept an eye out for a "snitch." He was up in the air for ten minutes before he caught sight of a snitch and shot after it. He passed Ginny on the way who was diving too. He didn't know if she was in the midst of a Wronski feint or if she was in pursuit of her own golden ball. He peeled his from the air at three feet off the ground and quickly yanked himself out of the dive. He sent a silent thank you to Merlin for the brooms being in better condition now than when he first rode one.

He directed his attention back to the sky and saw that some other boy had caught the second snitch and Ginny was neck and neck with a scrawny boy for the third one. He turned his eyes back to James as Ginny snatched the ball out of the air and waited for further instruction. James seemed happy with the result and asked if any of the three who caught the snitch were interested in beater. When they all said no, he blew the whistle and started beater tryouts with the rest of the hopefuls. It took until almost nine, but all of the tryouts eventually ended and the hopefuls were told to go eat.

Harry waited until the pitch was empty before he went out to lay on the grass in the center of the pitch. He found Ginny there and thought of going back to the castle when she yanked him down onto the landscape next to her. They laid there in silence for a half hour and Harry was starting to think that his companion had drifted off to sleep, but she spoke right as he was about to knock her shoulder.

"You were exceptional today, Harry," Ginny had her eyes closed and her face directed at the sky as she spoke to him. She was laying on the grass of the pitch and breathing deeply.

He leaned back until he was also lying down, but he used his arms to pillow his head and he breathed in the air deeply. "You did too, Gin. Chaser is yours."

Her laugh was so relaxed and he couldn't resist smiling at it, "I wouldn't be getting so cocky, Mr. Potter."

"It's Mr. Synk, actually," the smirk in his voice was practically palpable and Ginny snickered at his pompous attitude.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Mr. Synk. My deepest apologies, truly," she was heavy with the sarcasm and Harry opened his eyes to look over at her. She still had her eyes shut and the moonlight was bouncing off of the milky skin that used to be buried under her many freckles. Harry felt his heart stutter at the sight and didn't even think about it as he leaned down to kiss her. Her lips were as soft as he remembered and he fell into the kiss, not thinking of the consequences it might bring.

* * *

**A/N: Hello dears :) Please bear with me! I know that this chapter started a bit weird, but it will all fit in soon. I'm going to start doing some characterizations and bridging of friendships in the beginnings of chapters now. It will work out. . . I hope. Review please! When you review my stories, I review yours! And I love your ideas and guidance! Theres a new poll on my profile!**


	4. New Beginnings

He never hid the fact that he drew, he just never brought it up. Most people assumed that all of the ink smudges on his hands and arms were due to his messy scrawl, and he saw no harm in letting them do so. The only person who knows how much he enjoys drawing is probably his mother. She had been the one to buy him his first sketchbook and would enchant his pictures of dragons and monsters for him when he was too young to do it himself. He liked watching his drawings come to life back then, but now he prefered them the muggle way. He wanted the pictures to be alive without the magic he was so prone to use.

He would draw all kinds of things now. He had several sketches of the castle-all in different angles thanks to flying. Nothing was too simple to be forever remembered in ink. It's often the simple things that matter the most, after all. He drew the Marauders a lot. Sirius' perfectly styled locks and Peter's giant smile that made you smile back no matter how hard you tried to suppress it. He spent the most time on the scars on Remus' face, though. It wasn't that they made him who he was, or that they were even really glaring after knowing him. He detailed the scars because these sketches meant something and he wasn't going to skimp on the pain that they all had. Not everything was good and he refused to remember things so falsely.

He liked drawing people because when you know them well enough, the picture isn't really their physical qualities, but more of what they mean to you. It's amazing really, to compare the first sketches of his mates to the ones he has now. He tried to draw Lily once. His attempts at the fire in her hair and eyes were massive, but despite his best efforts, he couldn't mark down who she was. The drawing looked just like her, but it wasn't her. He didn't know her yet. He could see her, but he wouldn't be able to draw her until she let him _see_ her. He hasn't attempted a sketch of her since fifth year.

James would switch between muggle and magical drawing materials as they allowed him more choices. His favorites were the oil pastels, though. They slid across his parchment in the smooth fashion that he wished the world had and allowed his hands to form the shapes of the image in his head. He never let the drawings be perfect though. The world was made of imperfections and he had no authority to ignore that.

The best place to draw was at the top of the astronomy tower. The moon would shed a glowing light into the darkness around him and the sounds of the nature outside made him calm. It was best to come up to the tower just after three in the morning because of the silence. There were no couples sneaking around at that hour-just him and his bag of utensils. He never expected someone else to be in the tower when he went up. It hadn't happened a single time in his seven years there.

The door creaked shrilly in the darkness, and James was surprised to see a body on the ledge of the tower flinch at the sound before shooting to it's feet. He had never had good eyesight, and the slim shedding of moonlight wasn't really helping his situation. He squinted his eyes and looked towards the figure before tentatively calling out, "'Hello?"

The other person cleared their throat before responding awkwardly, "'Lo there, Captain."

"Harry? What the hell are you doing up here? It's nearly half three."

"I could ask you the same," Harry raised his eyebrows at James, but answered anyways. "I like it up here."

"Why?" James slipped his bag off of his shoulder and walks leaned against the ledge next to Harry.

"It's dark. Quiet."

"Dark? Well that's not off-putting at all," James chuckled and looked Harry in the eye.

"The dark isn't so bad. I don't know why people hate it so much."

"Yeah, well. It's weird in the dark. You can't see the shadows and any noise makes your skin crawl, yeah?"

"But it's a great place to not be seen. No one can bother you if they can't see you. Good for thinking, it is," Harry shrugged his shoulders and nodded towards the bag. "What's that you've got?"

"Nothing much, really. Just some stuff," James tried to shrug it off, but Harry noticed a fresh pink tinge in James' cheeks and laughed.

"Alright, just some stuff then. Mind if I check it out?" Harry nodded at the bag again and he held in another chuckle at James as one of his hands shot up to ruffle his hair.

"Er, I mean, it's really not much. Just some junk, you know? It's not worth your time, really."

"I'm only kidding, mate. It's obviously something private and I'm in no place to pry," Harry sent an easy grin at James and he relaxed a bit when James returned the action. The two boys stood in silence for a little while, looking at the sky until James spoke again.

"Are you excited for the first quidditch practice?"

"With you as a captain? Hell no. It's going to be awful, I can tell already," Harry knocked his shoulder into James' and laughed with him. "Yeah, I am. I haven't played in a while and I miss the game."

"Why haven't you played? You're bloody good at it," Harry smiled at James' compliment and tried to play it down. They spent until six in the tower, talking to each other and forming a friendship.

* * *

Lily was sitting in the her old dorm, laughing her brains out and shoving chocolates in her mouth. Mary had just broken up with her boyfriend of eight months after catching him in a broom cupboard with Megan Laurie. Mary had just finished an embarrassing story about Jason, and the three girls in the room were cackling.

"Oh sweet little Mary MacDonald! Tell me you didn't!" Marlene McKinnon was next to Lily, leaned against the bed and taking swigs out of a bottle of firewhiskey she managed to snake from her cousin.

"I did! And his face was _so red_ I swear he could've passed for a sunburnt jiggercrake!"

The girls fell into another round of laughter as the door opened up to admit Ginny to the room. She looked awkward upon walking in on the girl's hangout.

"Oh, uh, sorry. I'll just be going then," Ginny spun around to try and retreat from the room, but a call from Mary stopped her.

"No, Ginny! Please stay. It's your room too, yeah?" The little brunette scooted over from her spot on the floor to make room for Ginny. "We have chocolate!"

Ginny laughed as Mary thrust a chocolate frog towards her and gently pushed the girl's hand away from her face. She took the candy from her with a smile before sitting down next to her and opening the packaging.

"So why are all of you laughing with chocolates and firewhiskey?" Ginny asked around a mouth of chocolate.

"Mary's wanker of an _ex_-boyfriend was making out in broom cupboards with Megan Laurie while they were still dating. Prick ass bastard," Marlene took a hefty swig of the alcohol before she shoved it towards Lily.

"Jason cheated on you? Want me to hex the blighter?" Lily laughed at Ginny's murderous expression before she realized the other girl wasn't kidding.

"Head girl in the room, Ginny," Lily nudged her side with an uncomfortable expression on her face.

"Yeah, I know. A head girl who's drinking firewhiskey with her mates right now," Ginny's eyebrow quirked and Lily smiled mischievously at her.

"Hmm, is that so? Well we'll just have to see what comes of that then," Lily smirked and took a drink of the whiskey, a satisfied hum escaping her lips.

Ginny let out a laugh at Lily's so easily won approval and smiles at Mary and Marlene. The two girls looked at her with a respect that she hadn't seen before.

"Well, Mare. I think I do like this one," Marlene grabbed the firewhiskey from Lily and passed it off to Ginny. "Welcome to the club, Lewis."

Their friendship had blossomed fast. Hermione had continued to obstinately hold a grudge against Ginny for trying out for a position on the house quidditch team so Ginny had started spending time with Lily and her friends. Ginny paced anxiously in her dorm, waiting for James to post the team list on the bulletin board.

When tryouts had ended, he had told all of the hopefuls that in a week he would post the results. Ginny continually wrung her hands as Marlene sat on a couch in front of the fireplace watching her frazzled state. She let a giggle escape her lips and Ginny spun around fast to glare at her.

"Marlene McKinnon I swear to the founders that if you laugh at me again, I'll have your head!"

"Oh, well someone's a feisty one, aren't they? With a temper like that, I would think you're a redhead," Marlene laughed at her own joke whilst Ginny looked at her in question.

"What do you mean you'd think I was a redhead?" Her pacing had stopped and now Ginny stood in front of Marlene.

"I don't mean anything by it. I mean I love Lils and she's a ginger. Obviously you aren't a redhead. I didn't realize it would make you this upset. Sorry," Marlene looked genuinely guilty, and Ginny continued to be confused until a tendril of her black hair slipped from it's spot behind her ear and she was hit with a wave of realization.

"Oh! No, uh, I'm not offended. Sorry, erm, I'm just all frazzled because I'm uh nervous about the quidditch list. I have no issues with red hair at all!" Ginny awkwardly laughed as Marlene stood up from the couch.

Ginny stopped her giggling as Marlene placed her hand against Ginny's forehead to check her temperature. "You alright, Gin? You're getting weird."

Ginny smiled at Marlene and moved her friend's hand from her head, "Just fine, Marley."

"Okay. I'm going to head off then. I promised Mary that I'd help her with Arithmancy," Marlene waved at Ginny and slipped out of the portrait hole. Ginny breathed a sigh of relief and started to berate herself for almost letting the secret out. She closed her eyes and leaned her head along the back of the couch and didn't move until she felt the cushion next to her deflate under someone's weight. She peeked open an eye and sat up straight when she saw that it was Harry.

"Hi," Harry's hand went to his hair as he tried to flatten it some more and Ginny smiled at the knowledge that he was just as uncomfortable as she was.

"Hey, Harry," Ginny pushed some more of her black hair behind her ear.

"Look, Gin. We should probably talk. Uh, but maybe not here, yeah?" Ginny nodded and grabbed his hand to lead him out of the common room. They walked up to the room of requirement, not letting each other's hand go until Ginny stepped away to pace in front of the wall, imagining the den at the burrow.

Harry pushed the door open and held it for Ginny before stepping inside the room and closing the door after him. "The Burrow?" He quirked an eyebrow at her and didn't bother to hold back the grin that pulled up the corners of his mouth at her sudden shyness.

"Well, I mean, it's home, you know?" Harry's expression became more solemn and he nodded along to her comment.

"Yeah, I do."

There was a stretch of silence for about a minute before Harry cleared his throat and went to sit on the patched couch against the wall. Ginny followed his tracks and took the spot next to him, waiting for the inevitable. It came out fast and all at once.

"Look, Gin. We can't do this. I-I'm not good for you. I mean this is so different, being in the first war and not the second. I just. We can't work right now. Not with me meeting my mum and dad for the first time or… or… or seeing Sirius and Remus again. I mean, I never expected something like this happening and it's so complicated as is. And with Ron. He will murder me if he finds out and it's just. We can't. I'm... I'm so sorry."

Ginny looked into Harry's eyes and frowned. It was bad enough that he was saying what she was praying he wouldn't, but he looked like a complete stranger. She wiggled her wand out of her pocket and cast a charm to remove the transfiguration. His features slowly morphed back into his own and Ginny offered a sad smile as she drank it in. He looked back at her and swallowed hard before also taking out his wand and changing her back to herself.

Ginny felt the black fading out of her hair and the freckles resurfacing and watched Harry's face as she started to resemble who she truly was again. She held in the half sob she was dying to let out as Harry reached out his hand to touch the red of her hair. She let out a little sigh when his fingers made contact.

"How can not being together be the right thing when it hurts this much? It's so hard. We've left everyone back in our time except Ron and Hermione who we are hardly even talking to. I feel like I've lost everyone else. Please don't make me lose you too. I don't want to lose you, Harry. Please don't make me. Please."

Ginny continued to whisper 'please don't' over and over as Harry played with her hair and until he let go of all restraint and gathered her small body into his arms. She was full on crying now and he couldn't help but brush away her tears before cradling her in his arms and kissing her on her hairline as she tucked her head into his neck.

"I won't. I promise. I won't leave. You won't lose me. I'm sorry. I don't want to hurt you. I lo… I won't leave," Harry held her for a long time until all of her tears dried and she leaned up to kiss him. He didn't make a move towards her, trying to hold back, but when he made the mistake of looking at her chocolatey brown eyes, he lost control and leaned down to meet her halfway. Their lips brushed together softly and he felt the tips of his fingers tingle as he brought his hands up to cup her face and sink into her silky red hair. She sighed into his mouth and used her own hands to pull him closer to her before they both lost themselves in the moment.

* * *

"Hermione?" Ron walked over to the table that his girlfriend-he still got excited when he thought about that-was sitting at, furiously scanning the text of a large, old-looking book.

She didn't respond, but he could tell by the way that her ears twitched that she had heard him. Ron moved to sit in the chair across from her and waited for her to lift her eyes from the page. It took her about two minutes, but he waited patiently.

"Hey Ron. What do you need?" She sent him a soft smile and pushed her massive hair behind her ears. She slipped a spare bit of parchment into the tome and closed it so she could give her boyfriend her full attention.

"Well, um. I've been thinking. We're back here in the past. Why aren't we doing anything about it? I mean, if we start looking for the horcruxes now or something than we could stop all of our friends from dying. And Harry would have parents. Maybe Sirius wouldn't go to Azkaban. I don't know, Fred maybe wouldn't.

"I was just thinking that maybe we should try to change some stuff if we can. Think about it. Neville wouldn't have to get raised by his Gran. Mum might've not lost her brothers. I just. I want to do something worthwhile while we're here. I know you're excited to finish your seventh year, and I know you're working hard to get us back home. I just. I can't just sit here, 'Mione. Not when people who we loved are going to die and we can fix it. It's not right."

Hermione continued to look at Ron as she thought over what he said. She didn't agree that they should be playing with time. It's a dangerous thing, but the thought of saving all of their friends was pulling at her heart. She couldn't think about it now, so she reached for Ron's hand and squeezed it.

"I'll think about it," Hermione left her book at the little table and went off in search of a place to think.

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys. So I'm sorry for not posting for like a month, I had to take a step back from writing for a little bit. I have some family stuff going on and my grades were dropping and fanfiction kind of took the back burner. I have nothing good to say about this chapter. It's sloppy and I don't like it much, but I didn't want to keep you all waiting. It's winter break now so I'll start on chapter five, but I have finals a week after I go back so I need to study too. Thanks for reading and all of the reviews. I really appreciate all of the support this story has gotten. I'd still love to get some ideas from all of you. You guys are great. Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays! - Jules**


	5. Common Room Traffic

He was so different from his friends that a lot of the time he wanted to laugh aloud at the fact of it all. Most people would glance upon the four of them and wonder what he did to fit in with the most popular crowd in the school. It wasn't often considered that maybe he didn't have to do something to fit because he just naturally did. They were four different boys, and yes, he did differ the most of all, but that didn't make him an outcast.

James was bright, athletic, funny, and tall. He was born into a rich pureblood family that had been wishing for a child for the longest time and was raised as their miracle. He did not want for many things and the word "no" hardly found a place in his vocabulary. He was a charming boy who had a high confidence and an unwavering heart. He had always been proud of his father and aimed to be like him. The strong Gryffindor who did what was right even if it didn't always appear so. He loved his mother and grew up at her side, listening to the WWN and helping out the house elves. James Potter was idolized.

Sirius was the heartthrob with a broken past. He grew up in a family of blood purists and broke away from their teachings to be the rebel with a cause. He was aristocratically handsome with a boyish charm to make girls weak in their knees. Yes, he had some family issues, but what mattered to most of the girls in Hogwarts was that it in no way hindered his snogging capabilities. He had never held onto a long term relationship with a girl, and it was the hook that kept girls thinking that they might be the one to stick. Sirius Black was ogled.

Remus was the sweet, wearing sweaters and drinking tea, kind of guy. Girls liked his soft demeanor and it pulled them into him because who wouldn't want to surround herself with a boy like that? He could listen and give real advice, he was smart and not afraid to tutor, he had a gentle smile with a bouncing happiness beneath the tired complexion. Remus was who people liked to hang around with. Popular for just his personality and admired for being himself. It was no trouble at all to see that Remus Lupin was loved.

Then there was him. Peter. When people looked at him, they just saw the chubby fourth boy who didn't have much on display. No one could know from glancing upon him that he was the glue that held the Marauders together when they were fighting. No one would see that he gave the best advice, or that he was best at keeping secrets. No one knew that while he struggled in some of his studies, he was best out of all of them at healing charms. Peter Pettigrew was many things, but what he mostly was, was ignored.

She hadn't noticed him at first, but she did now. It wasn't romantic and it never would be, but they had something. Peter could keep secrets, and she needed someone who would help her and keep quiet. When she was attacked in fourth year on a trip to Hogsmeade, Peter had been the one to find her in the alleyway behind Gladrags. He was the one who healed the small scrapes and bruises before helping her to her feet and bringing her to Madam Pomfrey. He had helped to heal her emotionally too, but he didn't know that.

Peter remembered that day well, but he didn't think on it much because it made him too angry. Marlene had always had a small frame. She was such a cheery and bubbly girl. Marlene had been dragged into the alley and beat for being a "blood-traitor." She was only fifteen and didn't even realize how much her family's political stance defined her. She had been so closed off after it happened. She had been so scared when Peter came into the alley and found her bloodied and bruised, clothes torn, arms curled protectively around herself and water droplets slipping from her tear ducts. She wouldn't let him near her until she was sure of who he was and she kept him at wandpoint while he tried to clean her up as much as possible. Small she may be, but she was at least three times that in strength.

They became friends after that. He had brought her through a secret passage so that no one would be staring at her on her way back to the safety of the castle's walls. She would never forget how careful he had been with her. How protective. He had saved her and while in the future he would become unrecognizable in his Death Eater robes, she would never stop thinking of him as that sweet boy who had half-carried her to the hospital wing.

"Peter, my one and only love. How are you, dear?" Marlene threw herself down next to Peter on the couch in the common room, blonde hair flying out around her as she fell to the cushions.

Peter wiped the tendrils off of his face with a laugh and held out a bag of licorice wands to her as he responded, "Tired and bored. I don't want to go finish my homework."

"Ahh, makes sense, that does," Marlene pulled a wand from the bag and chomped off the top of it. "I'm also avoiding coursework. There is no way I'm working on Sprout's paper tonight. I don't care. It's too much."

"You never work on Sprout's assignments. I don't get why you even wanted to take the dumb course to begin with."

Marlene hit Peter's forearm with the second half of her licorice before finishing it off, "Herbology is a brilliant subject, excuse you. I just don't know how she expects me to write out 24 inches on some sort of plant, you know? Like, yeah, that's a cool species of flower, but I don't have five million things to tell you about it. Maybe plants are her passion, but I only took Herbology so I could fit the requirements for a ministry job."

"Marlene McKinnon, ministry worker," Peter pulled two wands from the bag and passed one to Marlene before taking a bite off of his. "I don't like it much. I feel like you should have a job that's as impressive as you are."

"Oh, Pettigrew! What a charmer! I'm swooning all over for you!" Marlene dramatically laid herself across Peter's chest and laughed with him as he continued to eat his licorice. She rolled over and tossed her ankles on the arm of the couch, leaving her head on his lap and a great view of the fire. They sat together watching the flames, waiting for more of their mates to make their way down to the common room. James was the first to make an appearance, bounding down the boy's steps to jump onto the adjacent couch.

"Aww, what a positively _darling_ couple!" James cooed at Peter and Marlene. Marlene grabbed another licorice, but this time instead chucked it towards James' head. Her aim was off and it was headed for his feet, but with the skills of a chaser, he snatched it before it hit the ground and took a bite of it.

"Git," Marlene crossed her arms across her chest and glared at the ceiling.

James laughed at her "insult" and replied, "Come on Marls! You know you have to do better than that! Lily's already obliterated meaning from that word for me. I have to say, though, I'm a bit disappointed that you couldn't do better." James shook his head disapprovingly at Marlene, but she was saved from replying with the appearance of Harry.

"Harry!" Marlene called out his name as he climbed through the portrait hole, "Come on over here and give dear ol' Jamsie a smack to the head, yeah?"

Harry laughed at Marlene and walked over to one of the chairs circling the group and plopped down. He sent a smile at all three of his companions and leaned back into the chair. "Do I _really_ have to do my homework? I think sitting here would be much more fun."

"Of course you have to do your assignments, Synk. I don't want you pulled from practices. The first one is tomorrow!" James threw the last bit of his licorice at Harry who glared at it in disgust before flicking it off of his robes.

Harry mumbled under his breath, "I definitely shouldn't do them then."

"OI! Your captain is right here, you wanker! Watch what you're saying!"

"Well you don't have to listen," Harry countered at James before the head boy leapt from his chair and reseated himself on top of Harry.

"Get off me, you bloody oaf!" Harry tried to push James' body off of him, but James just held onto the edges of the chair and laughed at Harry's weak attempts.

"Head boy Potter! You're setting the absolute _worst_ example for the younger students," Lily was at the base of the girl's dormitory steps, playfully chatising James as he continued to smush Harry into the chair.

"Head girl Evans! What a pleasure it is!" James grinned at Lily and sent her a wink as he readjusted himself on top of Harry. "I'm just reinforcing the importance of homework on Harry, here. He seemed to think that it's something he can skimp out on."

Lily made her way over to the two boys, all the fight she had to stop herself from grinning left behind as she reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "Oh yes. I see. You're enforcement of homework on dear Harry here isn't hypocritical at all, now is it? Hop on off of him, Potter. You don't want to break your new seeker, do you? I want a Gryffindor championship this year."

James smirked at Lily as she spoke, waiting for his turn to speak, "Oh hop off of _him_? Not a problem, Lils. Just as long as I can hop on you, I mean." He finished with a wink and Lily flushed red in embarrassment.

Lily took a pause before slipping her wand from the sleeve of her robe and hanging James upside down by his ankle. She giggled as he made a shocked protest of sound as he was yanked in the air, and she smiled at him as she walked over to the couch he had been sitting on before. "You're welcome, Synk."

* * *

It was stupid of her to wander the halls in wartime, and she knew that. She would've walked back with Harry if she was really that nervous about it, but she was more scared of Ron finding out about them. It was a double edged sword, really. Somehow, despite her being hyper aware of her surroundings, she didn't notice the flutter of the drapery that covered a hidden alcove until she was yanked behind the hanging.

Ginny followed instinct and drew her wand within a heartbeat, only to have Hermione disarm her just as fast. "Hermione?!"

Hermione bent down to retrieve Ginny's wand and handed it back to her, using her own to provide some lighting to the small space. "Yeah. I'm sorry for just grabbing you, but I assumed that you wouldn't exactly be up for talking."

"Well you got that bit right. What do you want?" Ginny shoved her wand back into the pocket of her robes and glared at Hermione.

"Look. I didn't mean to upset you. It's just-do you realize how much of a trouble this could be for the future? Just our being here is risking so much. I don't know what we're supposed to do! This isn't something that I have any knowledge of! And believe me, I checked. I just. I don't know what to do, Gin. And now Ron wants to save everyone who died, but what if that makes someone else die and. Just, it's a lot.

"That's not why I dragged you here, though. I just wanted to warn you that what you and Harry are doing is stupid. Not the quidditch-I honestly don't care about that anymore. It's in the past. But the sneaking around? Someone besides me is bound to notice. Ron will be less upset if you two just told him instead of trying to hide it."

Ginny rubbed a tired hand across her face and sighed, "Hermione just stop. I don't want your opinion on whether or not what Harry and I are doing is right. It's between us. Not you and me. Not you and him. Not Ron. It's between me and Harry and I honestly couldn't care less over what my brother's opinion on our relationship is.

"As for changing the past? It's really too late. It's screwed up already, yeah? What's the bloody point of trying to keep things as normal as possible? Ron's idea of saving everyone is great. Why shouldn't we do it. If we end this war once and for all, then we'll save _more_ people. Stop with your worrying and realize how much of a gift this is, Hermione. This isn't a bad thing. Take it with a grain of salt."

Ginny shoved the tapestry out of her way and started back on her trek to the common room, an angry flush on her cheeks. Hermione had overstepped her boundaries. It didn't matter what Ron thought about her and Harry. As far as she was concerned, it was their relationship and their business. Ron could bite it.

She angrily muttered the password to the Fat Lady and climbed through the portrait hole to see her friends sitting around James, who was suspended by his ankle in the air.

"Ginny! Be a dear and spell me down, yeah? The blood is starting to pain my head."

Ginny let out an involuntary giggle and slipped past his hanging body to sit next to Lily on her couch, "How long has he been like this?"

"Oh only about ten minutes. I would take him down, but it's just too funny. Even Remus walked past like he didn't hear or see him."

"OI RED! LET ME DOWN," James had twisted his body around to glare at Lily. She just laughed at his red face and went back to whispering with Ginny. Marlene, apparently taking pity on him cast the counter curse and let James' lanky body fall to the ground in a heap. He laid in a pile for about a minute to let his blood run normal again before he turned his frontside to Lily and adopted a devilish grin into his eye.

James sprang off of the ground, picking Lily up and throwing her over his shoulder. She let out a squeak as she was pulled off of the couch and she started poking his back and requesting to be set down. He just smiled at the group and sent a cheery wave at them before leaving the room with her still over his shoulder.

Marlene stared at the door of the common room before turning to their circle and asking, "Should we, uh, you know.. Do something about that?"

"I say no," Ginny tucked a couple strands of hair behind her ear and spread her body along the length of the couch. "Those two idiots obviously fancy the pants off each other. Let's not interfere."

Marlene nodded her head in agreement and went back to watching the flames of the fire. Peter started to play with her hair and Harry pushed himself off his chair to move next to Ginny. He lifted her legs off the adjacent cushion and sat down, dropping them back onto his lap. She wiggled herself back on the couch so that she was sitting up and not laying down before she pulled off her shoes and wiggled her feet at Harry with a pouting face. He sighed in resignation before he started to massage her feet for her. She smiled cutely at him before leaning her head back and closing her eyes.

Peter stopped playing with Marlene's hair to draw her attention to Harry and Ginny on the couch. She smiled up at Peter with a knowing gleam in her eyes. He laughed quietly at her expression, but their silent conversation was cut off by the arrival of Sirius, Remus, and Mary.

"We just saw James parading Lily around the castle. Is there a cause for worry or a need for intervention?" Remus took a seat on the floor in front of Peter and Marlene, also sharing a smirk with his mates after glancing Harry and Ginny's set up on the couch.

"No cause for worry, I don't think. They're just pretending they aren't mad for each other again," Marlene called out from her comfortable position. Sirius and Mary both were making a move for the chair, with Mary reaching it first and triumphantly throwing her body into the cushiony walls of the armchair. Sirius glared at her before he dropped down in front of her. She took advantage of his placement to start plaiting his hair, much to his dissatisfaction.

"MacDonald. Just what in Godric's good name do you think you're doing?" Mary's fingers in Sirius' hair halted at his words, before he sighed and muttered, "Well if you must, go on."

Mary and Marlene laughed at him while Remus shared a smirk with Peter, wishing he had a camera. Harry spoke up for the first time since the others had joined the group of seventh years, "Hey I think Gin's fallen asleep. Do you guys know how to get her up to the dorms or should I just leave her here?"

"Well you could levitate her up there, but that's probably not the best system. I would just leave her on the couch. She looks comfortable the way she is," Remus said.

Harry nodded and carefully slid Ginny's feet off of his lap. He grabbed a blanket off of the back of the couch and carefully covered her with it before he tucked the hair that had fallen in front of her eyes behind her ear. Marlene and Mary watched as he tucked Ginny in and couldn't help the twin sighs that they let out. Harry turned to face them and red blossomed on his cheeks when he noticed all of them staring at him.

"Err, I um. I'm going to go do some homework. So.. Bye," he quickly spun on his heel and marched off towards the boys dorms.

Sirius was the first to break the silence, "So?"

Peter just laughed at the situation and Marlene cooed, "Oh they're so cute! I don't see why they don't just date already. They're so great together!"

"You hardly know the two of them, Marls. Yeah, we may be closer with Ginny than we had been before, but that doesn't mean anything. We still don't know anything about them if you really think about it," Mary resituated herself in her chair, finally done with styling Sirius' hair.

Remus thought on that for a second before he spoke up, "You know, guys, Mary's right. We don't know anything about them. Not Harry, Ron, Hermione, or Ginny. Why are all of them so secretive? I understand that it's war-time, but there's no reason to be so shady about everything. It's not like they're death eaters or something."

"Well they all seemed pretty traumatized when they first got here. They're better now, but they just seem so worn out, you know? I don't understand why though. They're the same age as us, right?" Marlene had pushed herself off of the couch and checked to make sure that Ginny was still asleep.

"I would assume so, but now I'm not too sure. It actually makes me really uncomfortable to know so little about them. We really should try to get something out of at least one of them. And I can't help but wonder what's going on between Ron and Hermione and Ginny and Harry. They were close when the got here, but now they avoid each other like the plague. Ron and Harry don't even talk anymore, really," said Remus.

"What the hell is going on with all of them. I don't get it," Sirius rubbed a hand down his face and looked to Remus for an answer.

"Don't worry, Padfoot. We'll figure it out," Remus bit his lip before continuing. "Here's my plan.."

* * *

**A/N: Hello! So I am so super sorry for the fact that I can never seem to sit myself done and actually write out a chapter. I'm awful at all this. I really hope you guys still are reading. I'm trying-I really am. Thank you for all of your wonderful reviews. It means a lot. And for the guest reviewer who always goads me into writing out an update, thank you. I really need the motivation. I hope you liked this past chapter. Hopefully I can have chapter six up soon. Have a great day!**


	6. A Sneaking Suspicion

Chapter Title: A Sneaking Suspicion

"So Ginny, you've been here for a while and we feel like we still don't know anything about you," Marlene idly flipped through a Witch Weekly while the seventh year girls, minus Hermione, sat around the fire in the Gryffindor common room.

"Well I mean, there isn't much to know, is there?" Ginny tucked some of her hair behind her ear and continued writing her charms essay. She tried to present the image that she was busy and not up for talking, but the girls continued on. She scrunched her nose at the sound of Marlene ripping open a pack of cauldron cakes. The crinkle of the plastic was soon covered by Mary's dainty voice.

"Oh come on! There's lots to learn! And there's a best way to do it, too!" Mary jumped up off the the chair she had been sitting on and dropped down on the couch next to Ginny. Ginny looked up at her briefly before turning her eyes back to her paper.

"Oh Merlin, Mary. Ginny's normal. She isn't going to want to have a girls night. Don't put her through that!" Marlene tossed the magazine onto the table and laid her head along the back of the couch.

"Marls, don't be such a downer. I'm sure this time will go smoother," Lily wrapped her arms around her legs and sent Marlene her best "I don't care if you don't want to, this is for Mary" look.

"Ugh, fine. But there better be something to eat this time," Marlene continued speaking over Mary's attempt at interrupting. "And no, Mary. Cucumbers are not food. Especially when they've been on your eyelids. I'm talking cauldron cakes or something else fattening. I want something real to put in my stomach."

Mary glared at Marlene before turning to Ginny, "So…. Are you in, Lewis? I swear Marly doesn't bite… Well, except for that one time."

Ginny laughed at Mary's comment before reluctantly agreeing to the girl's night. "And with that," Ginny spoke, rolling up her essay, "I'm off to the library. See you guys later."

Ginny tried to keep her cool as she left the common room, but couldn't keep up her solid demeanor on her way to the library. She didn't care how mad everyone was at each other. This was important. Before reaching the library, she made a pit stop at the Room of Requirement and dragged Harry along with her.

"Ginny, why are we going to talk to Ron and Hermione?" Harry rubbed his wrist from where Ginny had yanked his arm as they trecked down to the library.

"We have to have a discussion. We don't have to make amends or something, but it's important that we settle a couple things, okay? Now move away from me," Ginny smirked at Harry's affronted face. "Ron doesn't know about us, remember?

They found Ron and Hermione at a table by the muggle literature section, Hermione working and Ron doodling on his parchment.

Ginny stopped about two feet from the table and awkwardly clearing her throat. Her pseudo-confidence fading in the presence of her fellow time-travelers. "Uh, hi."

Hermione carefully closed the textbook in front of her and looked stiffly, politely up at Ginny and Harry whilst Ron's ears turned red and he muttered a hello in Harry's direction.

"Look, I get that none of us are happy with each other, but we need to figure some stuff out, okay? Hermione. I need your advice."

"Oh, so now you want my advice? Funny, you didn't seem too keen on it a couple days ago."

"No I wasn't. I'm sorry, okay? We all really need to talk some things out, though. You out of everyone should realize how important this is."

Hermione pursed her lips and nodded, her bushy hair bouncing with the motion. "I suppose you're right."

Ginny pulled a chair over from a nearby table and Harry followed suit, sitting slightly closer to Ron.

"So what's this about, then?" Ron pushed his parchment and quill to the side, letting his arms take their place on the table top.

Ginny laid her hands on her lap and took a breath before starting, "I think that people are starting to get suspicious of us."

Hermione's eyes grew larger and Ron felt a flush starting up his neck, "What?" Ron asked. He was hoping that he might have misheard his sister.

"People are starting to ask questions and I don't have infinite ways to deflect them. I'm being forced into a girl's night with Mary, Marlene, and Lily tonight. It's not good. I think that the Marauders are planning to lightly interrogate Harry, too. But you all know Remus-he'll cause us to slip up without even realizing it. We need to decide on a solid backstory with a few details so that we have something to say, okay?"

"Well Professor Dumbledore told everyone that we were foreign exchange students from France, right? We should just play into that." Hermione pulled out a fresh sheet of parchment and started to take notes on what they already had planned out.

"I understand what you're saying, but what if they ask us about France, Beauxbatons, or even try to get us to say something in French?" Ginny rubbed her temples.

"Do any of us speak French?" Hermione asked hopefully, already knowing that the answer would be no.

"Okay, there might be some sort of spell that we can use. I'll start looking and see what I can do," Hermione pushed her chair back from the table, but Harry put his hand on her shoulder to sit her back down.

"What I think our biggest problem is, is that we said we were from France, and we haven't been talking in accents…"

"Oh no," Hermione's cheeks flushed red and she brought her hands to her face. "Oh no, oh no, oh no. It's not even like we can start now! It's too late. It's no wonder they've been suspicious!"

"We just have to find a way to fix it, right? So we can change our story a little bit. No one will remember exactly what Dumbledore said, and it's not like he gave a full summary of our pasts in the first place…" Ginny wrung her hands together as she tried to think of a good reason that none of them spoke French nor had an accent.

Ron cleared his throat, "What about this? We _are_ exchange students, but we aren't only from France. Our parents are all really close friends and colleagues and they work together, traveling from country to country. So they were originally from England and they all went to Hogwarts. Since we never stay in one place for a long time, we never picked up any other languages and accents. And since it's our final year of school, our parents wanted us to finish at Hogwarts-just like them."

As Ron spoke, the other three nodded along, agreeing with his idea. It was a clever and believable enough idea that they figured that the Marauders and the girls would accept it without too much trouble. And to be honest with themselves, it truly was their best option.

Hermione smiled at Ron and reached across the table to squeeze his hand before she turned her attention back to the group as a whole, "Okay I think that this will work. We grew up together as kids because of how close our parents were. They were all involved in the same research project so they traveled to different countries together to gather information on different magical and muggle species. Going with what Ron suggested, they brought us back to England for our final year of schooling. They're off in the states right now so that's why we'll be staying at the castle this Christmas. Oh and I wouldn't be surprised if they ask about what it was like to travel to all of those different places and where we've been. Just have some answers in your back pockets. And three places that we can say we've seen are France, Bulgaria, and Australia. How's that, then?"

Harry nodded, "That works for me."

Ginny also nodded her assent and started to push her chair back, but Ron stopped her. "Wait. I don't know why you and 'Mione are fighting or why none of us are talking, but it's pretty stupid. We are all in this situation together. We don't know when we will get back or if we even can, but we need to stick together so we can figure something out. What if we never can get back? We just stay here forever split up into two groups? Dumbledore hasn't found out a way to get us home yet. I think that we should reconsider my idea about searching for the you-know-whats."

Hermione rubbed her hands over her face and started to massage her temples, "Ron we've talked about this. We can't mess with time like that. It's dangerous. We don't know what consequences we will face if we try to do that. And we don't even know everything about them."

"That last part's not true. I learned a lot in my meetings with Dumbledore. I know what we need to know. And I think it's silly for us to not take advantage of the opportunity to end this war before more people die," Harry held eye-contact with Hermione as he spoke.

Ginny agreed with the boys, "I don't see why we shouldn't do this. It will save so many lives, magical and muggle."

"You all are too far connected to this to see clearly! Ron and Ginny, you have your uncles on your minds. And Harry I know that you want to save your parents, but what is going to happen to this version of you if we defeat Voldemort now? You won't get your mother's blood protection as a baby. You won't be marked as Voldemort's equal. You won't have the scar-"

"But I will have parents! You don't know what it was like Hermione. You don't know how horrible it was to live with the Dursleys. They didn't want me. They hated me. I cleaned, cooked, and stayed silent. They punished me for being magical-something that you and I both know I can't control. The things that they told me and lied to me about. I didn't even know that my parents were heroes. I thought they died in a car crash. I was told that my father was a worthless drunk. I LIVED IN A CUPBOARD! Why can't you just let me save them?"

"Harry it's not that I don't want you to save them I just can't see past the problems that changing everything will cause. If there is no chosen one then who will defeat Voldemort. And what will happen to these versions of us if we change the future? Will we just cease to exist or will the future versions of us disappear at the age we got sent back at? There's no answer to these questions. We don't know what we will be facing."

Ginny cut in, "But we do know what we will be facing if we do nothing and change nothing. How can you spend time with all of these people and get to know them, only to let them follow the paths that kill them or worse. Can you really stomach watching Alice lose her sanity, or Peter going dark. James and Lily dying? Marlene dies too. And we don't even know what happened to Mary. These are people, Hermione. These are lives, not pawns of the future or collateral damage. Perhaps we were meant to be sent back. I don't know. But I do know that I won't just sit and watch when I can do something to help. We have the resources to do a lot of good. And ending the war now won't only save people who died in the first war, but the second as well. Teddy could have parents and Andromeda a husband. This isn't a game-it's a chance."

"Ginny you aren't listening! Teddy might not even exist if we change things! What if saving Marlene means that Remus will fall in love with her and not Tonks? Or what if Alice still loses her mind, but because of her occupation instead? There are far too many ifs. We risk too much if we start meddling in the past."

"But look at how bad the future is! Sirius goes to Azkaban for a crime he didn't commit, so many innocent people die. Why shouldn't we take the risk? Things can't get much worse," Ron slammed his fist down on the table as he made his point so that he could make sure the emphasis was present.

"What if saving someone you don't know could mean losing George in the future? Or your mom? Dad? Charlie? Bill? Percy? God forbid even yourself? This isn't some grand opportunity. It was a spell gone wrong and nothing more than that."

"Hermione, I love you like a sister and you are such an important person to me, so forgive me for this: I honestly don't care what your opinion on this is. It's three to one and three of us are on the right side. Pull your head out of your arse and stop looking at this as some kind of equation or problem. This time we have received is a blessing. I've gotten to know my real family. I'm not going to give them away for anything. You're either with us or against us, and I'm really hoping it's the former." Harry pushed his seat back with his legs as he stood. The shocked look on Hermione's face was completely expected and he only frowned as he turned to leave the table.

Ron and Ginny watched Harry leave with their mouths slightly agape. Ron collected himself before Ginny and he turned to his girlfriend, "As much as I hate to say it, 'Mione, I am on Harry's side with this one. It's family, after all."

* * *

It was official, Ginny decided, that she was in no way, a girly girl. The drinking was good enough, truth or dare was something she could handle, and yes, she would do her nails, but she really preferred to not have food on her eyes. The cucumber slice kept falling off her eye because of her inability to just "enjoy" the face mask experience. Honestly, who really gave a damn over exfoliation and pores? Skin is skin. And she quite liked the calluses on her hands.

"Oh for Agrippa's sake, Gin, your cucumber is out of place again. I have half a mind to place a sticking charm on it!" Before she could protest, Ginny felt Mary's nimble fingers brushing against her skin to fix the arrangement of the fruit on her face.

"What does it even matter? It's not like I look like I'm eighty or something!" Marlene coughed on her drink and Ginny's head shot up from the tiny silk pillow that Mary had made her use. The cucumbers launched from her face and landed about three feet in front of her on the ground. "What!"

"I didn't say anything!" Marlene's face was turning red and Lily and Mary had grown suspiciously quiet.

"Exactly! I don't look eighty!" Ginny's cheeks were now turning the same shade of red as Marlene's face.

"Well um not eighty, but not seventeen either…" Marlene's voice was small, but Ginny still heard it.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Marlene's desperation finally called Mary and Lily to her side. Lily took the lead.

"You just look so old for your age. It's a little weird, Gin. You just seem so weighed down by life and like you've seen so much more than you ever wanted to. Like Remus does."

Ginny was working up a retort until Lily said Remus' name and things clicked for Ginny. She knew that she had a lot of weight on her from the war, but Remus looked ancient for his age and if that's what the girls saw on her, she would need a whole new story to tell them. She grabbed a towel from the bed and wiped the mask off her face before shoving her wand in her pocket and leaving. She could hear them calling after her, but she didn't slow her pace and waltzed through the common room and out of the portrait hole.

* * *

**A/N: I sincerely apologize for how neglectful I have been towards this story. I would promise another chapter soon, but I honestly have no inspiration for it. I will try my best to get back into gear with this story, but it's kind of a back burner right now. I will have a Teddy Lupin one-shot up soon, though. So sorry again! I promise I'm trying. Thanks for reading, guys. And please let me know what you think-good or bad, I want to know. **


	7. Accusations

The start of November was calm and Ron was appreciative of that. He had taken Harry and Ginny's dating again fairly well and was overall glad for them. Hermione was still miffed at him for deciding to change the past, but as much as she wanted to make him see eye to eye with her, she knew she couldn't. He was seated in the Gryffindor stands of the quidditch pitch watching Ginny and Harry practicing with the rest of the team. Hermione had mentioned that she would come up to sit with him at some point so he wasn't too shocked when he felt her familiar presence at his side. He extended his hand towards her palm up and she didn't hesitate in interlocking their fingers. They sat silently together, watching the figures of the team run drills until Hermione worked up the nerve to say what was on her mind.

"Ron," she said his name softly, like she was almost wary to bring up the subject. He turned to look at her with a tired expression on his face, hoping that she wouldn't try and argue his plans for changing the future once more.

"Hermione, I can't do this again. I'm tired of fighting you on this. You know that I won't change my mind and even if you succeeded in that, you would still have Harry and Ginny to convince. This is right. I know it doesn't seem that way right now, but I swear it is."

Her responding nod was small, "I don't fully agree with you, and you know that. But I don't want to lose you all. The temptation to save as many people as we can is pulling me. I just can't rationalize someone else dying for us to save people in the future, you know? But I decided that I'm with you guys. I'll help. I want to help."

Ron's desolate expression transformed into one of euphoria and he pulled Hermione into him and kissed her. "Thank you, 'Mione. Thank you so much."

Hermione released an unexpected giggle as Ron rubbed their noses together. She still had some guilt deep down in her stomach about betraying her belief in keeping time as close to normal as possible, but she squashed it down.

There was still an hour left to practice so Ron put his arm around his girlfriend and continued to watch the players as Hermione opened up the large book that she had brought to entertain herself with. He wasn't expecting anyone else to be coming up to watch the practice, so he was surprised to see the rest of seventh years marching their way up the long stairs to the top of the stands. Sirius was in the lead with Lily, the two of them further ahead than the rest of the group and whispering to each other about things that they seemed keen on keeping just between them. Ron nudged Hermione to draw her attention to the group and she immediately straightened up upon seeing them.

The group of five reached the top of the stands and called out joyous greetings to Hermione and Ron. They immediately started making their way over to their section of the stands. Sirius settled behind Ron with Peter and Remus took Ron's side. Mary and Marlene took the same position as Sirius and Peter, but instead behind Hermione with Lily on her side.

"Fancy finding the two of you up here!" Marlene sounded genuinely pleased to have found Ron and Hermione, but the time travelers were careful to keep their guard on due to their knowledge of the group's suspicion.

"Yeah," Ron said, "I've always enjoyed watching Harry and Ginny fly. I figured that the weather was just warm enough to come out and observe."

"Gorgeous day, it is," Sirius agreed. He narrowed his eyes at the back of Ron's head and tried to casually slip in. "How is it again that you know Harry and Ginny?"

Hermione tensed under Ron's arm, but smiled up at Sirius, "Our parents are all close friends. Ron and Ginny are siblings though."

"Twins?" Peter asked. His smile was the most disarming and Hermione swallowed hard under his gaze. It was so easy to believe that he was just trying to keep up conversation.

Ron nodded with an affirmative nod, hoping to cut off conversation. "That's pretty cool. Gin's a pretty awesome girl," Mary leaned towards Ron.

"Yep. She's a good sister, if not annoying at times." Ron's arm tightened its hold around Hermione's shoulder and she leaned into him. For once they were grateful that their generation's war had granted them passable poker faces.

"What about you, Hermione? Any siblings?" Remus prompted.

"No. I'm an only child. Harry and Ginny are like siblings to me, though." Her fingers played with the corner of her bookmark.

"Ah yes, siblings do get into quarrels though. Like earlier in the year between you and Lewis. What exactly happened there? It must've been something big, yeah? Seemed to affect Harry and Ron's relationship a bit too." Sirius' tone started to take on a more insistent edge to it and Hermione tried to think up a quick response.

"Oh… nothing really. Just the normal stuff," Hermione tried.

"Normal stuff? Really? It seemed larger than that. You two wouldn't even look at one another…" Marlene dragged out the last word so that a response was deemed necessary.

Ron tried to help Hermione out, "It was an old argument that got brought back up. Personal, you know."

"I have a few of those with my sister. She's a muggle. We don't get on well." Lily commented, testing Hermione's reaction.

"That must be tough on the two of you." Hermione sent an understanding expression to the girl at her side.

Lily's only response was a nod and silence conquered the group for a moment before Remus broke it, "It's a bit funny how we've all failed so miserably in getting to know the two of you. It feels almost as though you're trying so hard to stay secret to us."

The tips of Ron's ears tinted pink, but he tried to play off the poorly covered accusation with a forced laugh. Hermione, with a forced smile of her own responded, "Well we have nothing to hide."

Sirius, his expression not even slightly amused remarked, "I think you do." The level way in which he spoke prompted both Ron and Hermione to turn in their seats. "Why don't we have a chat? I feel like there's so much to talk about."

"Be careful now, Sirius. Someone might think that you're making an accusation," Hermione stood from her seat, Ron following immediately after her.

"Be reasonable, there are five of us and two of you." Marlene spoke. She sounded almost regretful, but she didn't waver.

"So this is really how you want to go about this?" Ron deadpanned. One of his hands reached for Hermione's and the other the concealed handle of his wand.

The group of five all rose, "I see what you're reaching for. Is it really necessary to grab for your wand, Ron?" Mary's voice was quiet, but strong and Ron raised his hand into the air, palm open.

Hermione kept her lips pursed tightly and glared at the air behind the group.

"We really aren't bad people, please don't think that." Lily frowned as she spoke. "Times are dark, you have to understand."

"We understand perfectly well, Lily." Ron spoke.

"Let's not stall any longer. We have a conversation to be had." Sirius stepped down from his spot in the stands to be next to Ron.

"We aren't going to collect your wands," Peter said, "because as secretive as you're being, we would like to believe that you aren't actually bad people either."

For the first time since the accusations began, Hermione spoke. "That's unwise. If you're going to do this, you might as well go all in. It's dark times, as you said." Hermione drew her wand from her cloak and handed it off to Remus.

Ron's jaw slackened at Hermione's decision, but he followed suit and gave his to Lily.

"Let's go," Marlene spoke and led the group from the stands.

* * *

As Harry made his figure eights above the quidditch pitch in search of the snitch, his eyes were drawn to the small huddle of people in the quidditch stands. He lowered himself in the sky a bit to try and see who was down there. He couldn't have mistook the bright red dot for Lily Evans, and he felt his stomach drop when he realized that the entire group was made up of the Gryffindor seventh years. His blood started to rush when he saw Hermione drawing her wand only to hand it off to Remus. He started his descent to the grass of the pitch, and ignored his captain's yells.

"Oi! Synk! What the hell do you think you're doing? Practice isn't over yet!" James landed about twenty feet from Harry, causing the time traveler to turn around and alter his path to lead to his captain.

"What the hell do _I_ think I'm doing? What about your friends? Where are they bringing Ron and Hermione?"

Ginny, noticing the confrontation on the pitch flew down next to Harry. "Harry? What's going on?"

Harry turned to Ginny, "_His_ friends just led Hermione and Ron off. Wandless!" His attention turned back to James, "What the hell do you think you're playing at? Where are they taking them!"

"Look, Harry, I have no idea what you're talking about…" started James.

"The hell you don't!" Harry's anger only rose the longer he spoke to James.

"Harry calm down. I think he's telling the truth." Ginny put her hand on Harry's arm and tried to settle him.

"How are you so calm, Ginny? They just took your brother! How do expect me to calm down?" Harry rounded back on James who looked truly confused, "Where's your map? Give it to me. Now."

James' confused look morphed into one of anger and accusation, "How do you know about that?"

Harry ran his hand through his hair, letting out a frustrated grunt, and turned on his heel. Ginny followed after Harry, ignoring the rest of the team that was landing on the pitch and asking what was going on.

James started jogging after Harry and Ginny, "Who are you?"

"Fuck you!" Harry screamed over his shoulder and continued his rush up to the castle to find his friends.

James caught up to Harry and Ginny. James grabbed onto Harry's shoulder and forcefully spun him around. "Tell me how you know about the map. What else do you know?" You couldn't mistake the slight hint of panic under James' anger, and Ginny wondered whether if he was concerned for his friends and their secrets.

Harry pulled his shoulder out of James' grasp and went nose to nose with him. "Forget what I know. You're going to help me find my friends."

"I don't know what you're talking about." James growled. Harry let out a short disbelieving laugh and shoved his father.

"Sure you fucking don't. I'm not an idiot. You know where they would've taken them. And don't you dare fucking deny it."

Ginny stepped between the two boys, placing her hands on Harry's chest, "Harry calm down. This isn't the way to go about this."

"Does it look like I care, Ginny? I'm not letting anything happen to my friends. You shouldn't either."

"I doubt they'll hurt them, Harry. They're on the good side," Ginny pleaded.

James grew impatient with the two people in front of him, "You two need to tell me what's going on? Who the fuck are you?"

Ginny turned to speak to James before Harry could, "We'll explain later. I promise. First, where would your friends have taken our friends? A private location, probably." Harry was glaring at the ground and James looked like he was trying to decide if he should beat Harry to a pulp or help Ginny.

It took time, but James eventually ground out, "Sirius has somewhat of an affinity for this abandoned classroom on the third floor. But I _am_ coming with you."

"Alright," Ginny nodded.

The three of them started their run up to the school. Ginny and Harry didn't waste time in pretending that they were unaware of the secret passages or layout of the school and took them with the practice that they had cultured over time. They reached the classroom that James mentioned in minutes and Harry immediately tried the doorknob. Finding it locked, Harry swore and scrambled to get his wand out of his practice gear. Ginny was also trying to pull her wand out, but James instead pounded his fist on the door and yelled, "Padfoot open up! It's Prongs!"

The door opened soon after and Harry and Ginny rushed into the room. Hermione and Ron were sitting in old desk chairs against the one wall and the rest of the seventh years, sans Remus who opened the door, were standing in front of them.

"What the hell is going on here?" James looked to Remus who sighed deeply and was cut off from responding by Harry.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? What's your fucking problem?" Harry strode into the room towards the seventh years that he thought he had befriended. Ginny calmly walked up to Ron and Hermione to check that they were alright.

Sirius wasn't one to quiet his anger so he pushed out of the group to meet Harry. "Why don't you answer something for me? Why have you been lying to us and who are you? I don't tend to treat death eaters kindly, mind you."

"Back off, Sirius. This doesn't concern you." Harry glared at him.

"I would tell you to back off too, _Harry_, if I was sure that that was even your name."

Lily, with a frown on her face, approached the two. "I know that you're angry, Harry, but can't you understand why we are doing this? There's a war on, and it's been fairly obvious that all of you are hiding something."

"I want my answers, now. I took you here." James locked eyes with Ginny and she sighed.

"Look, James, it's really complicated," Ginny sighed.

"No. I don't care. We made a deal. How did you know about the map? Who are you?"

Ginny looked to Hermione for guidance, and she jerked her head for Ginny and Harry to come closer. Harry grudgingly stepped away from Sirius to decide on how much to tell with his friends.

"Hold on! You don't get to decide what to tell us. You need to tell us everything." James crossed his arms as if to show how solid he was on his decision.

Remus walked forward to stand next to James, "I have something I want answered too. On your first night, you had a nightmare. I heard my name and at first I thought I imagined it, but I'm starting to think that I was wrong to give you the benefit of the doubt."

Harry visibly paled at that and the rest of the seventh years reset their glares and wands on the group. Marlene asked for the group, "Who are you people? What are you hiding?"

The four time travelers stood together and Ron spoke, "Marlene calm down."

"Don't tell her to do anything," Sirius spit out.

"Lily. You're the best at charms," James whispered so only she could hear, "see if that's what they actually look like." Her responding nod was surreptitious and she slowly pointed her wand at Ginny, who stood nearest to her.

The spell was unexpected from most of everyone, but the gasp was sounded as one as everyone stared in shock at Ginny's changing features. The red was brought back into her hair and her freckles once more covered her skin. Ginny and Harry were immediately disarmed and the time travelers stood helplessly in front of the group.

Mary's soft voice was the only sound in the room, "Lily, do the rest."

"No. Please." Ginny stepped in front of Harry. "You can do everyone but him. I'll tell you whatever you want to know. You can't do anything to Harry."

Ron and Hermione stood on either side of Ginny, and Ron spoke for the both of them, "Us too. And we are sorry that we lied, but we hope that you can understand." Lily cast the spell on Hermione and Ron as well, but hesitated on casting it on Harry.

"What we understand," Sirius yelled, "is that you all have been playing us for damn fools!"

"Sirius we never meant it like that. We swear." Ginny frowned at him, and he returned her look with one of disgust.

"Is Ginny even your real name?" Lily looked the most hurt out of all of the girls. Ginny stepped forward.

"My name is Ginny Weasley. And I am so sorry, Lily. We came here by accident. In our time, and I say time because we traveled into the past, the second wizarding war has just ended. The final battle was fought at Hogwarts and we were doing repairs on the castle, but Ron's spell went wrong and something strange happened. We ended up here. Dumbledore told us that for our safety that we should change our appearances and last names, Harry especially. I told you my name, and Ron is my brother, but he isn't my twin. He's a year older than me. And Hermione's last name is Granger. She's a muggleborn, but times are dark here. We wanted to keep her safe. I can't tell you who Harry is, and I'm sorry about that. It would be too much."

"That only answered a few of our questions. Not nearly all of them," James glared at Ginny.

"What do you want to know?" Ginny asked warily.

"Why can't we know who Harry is?" Mary asked.

Ginny opened her mouth to explain, but Harry stepped forward. "Ginny it's okay. It's easier this way."

"Are you sure, Harry?" Ron made eye contact with his friend and seeing that he was sure, he didn't protest.

Harry turned towards Lily and nodded at her wand. She cast the spell on him and he closed his eyes. The reaction of the students was one of shock and disbelief. The marauders were looking between James and Harry and the disbelief only grew when Harry's eyes opened and a brilliant green shone.

"My name is Harry James Potter, and I'm your son." Harry said to James and Lily.

* * *

**A/N: I am so sorry that it's been so long since I've updated. I wrote this today so please excuse any errors - I just wanted to get this to you as soon as possible. I hope you like it. Review and let me know! Thanks for reading :) **


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